In addition to our unique range of products and solutions, we also provide a range of consultancy, engineering and training services.

Consulting

Glaciem Cooling provides Consulting and Training services to both end users and contractors. Glaciem Cooling’s focus is to ensure that both the end users and contractors are getting the best system and support to meet their needs.

Consulting services for end users include

Refrigeration System energy and performance reviews

Refrigeration System Design

Tender management

Project Management

Refrigeration system commissioning

Consulting Services for refrigeration contractors

Refrigeration System troubleshooting

Refrigeration System Design

Refrigeration system commissioning assistance

CO2 system design & maintenance training

Ammonia system design & maintenance training

Sister Companies & Suppliers

Quik-Cool (Shanghai) Cooling Technologies is part of the Glaciem group of companies.

Located in Shanghai Quik-Cool specialises in delivering CO2 technology to the Asian market. Services include:

JCH Refrigeration

JCH Refrigeration Consulting offers a wide range of professional client based consulting services in both commercial and industrial refrigeration sectors throughout Australia and the Asia Pacific Region.

With over 28 years industry experience and specializing in Natural Refrigerants Carbon Dioxide (R744) and Ammonia (R717), you can be sure that your business gets professional impartial advice in all matters concerning your refrigeration plant and equipment.

We can guide you through the complexities involved when making decisions concerning your refrigeration equipment. With the continuous changes in the refrigeration sector driven by legislation, it is essential for end users to get impartial professional advice.

Baofeng

Glaciem Cooling Technologies is the Australian distributor for the SPL series of evaporative condensers manufactured by Shanghai Baofeng Refrigeration.

SPL is 100% owned by listed company Lianhe Group, with national resources and solutions for worldwide heat transfer application located in Shanghai China. SPL is dedicated to designing and manufacturing the highest quality products for the evaporative cooling and industrial refrigeration markets around the globe. Since its founding in 2001, SPL Incorporated has become an industry leader in the engineering and manufacturing of quality heat transfer products in China.

FAQs

CO2 is a natural refrigerant which is manufactured as a by-product from many industries. It is contained in large amounts in the oceans, and all living things produce or absorb it. Advances in technology are allowing engineers to design innovative ways to use CO2 as never before, making it a cost effective and sustainable replacement for traditional synthetic refrigerants.

R22, also known as HCFC-22, has been commonly used in air conditioning and refrigeration systems in Australia since the 1990s.

Releases of R22 into the earth’s atmosphere, including those from leaks, contribute to the depletion of the earth’s ozone layer.

As a result, Australia has a legislated phase out of all HCFCs in line with its obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Australia will largely phase out the import of HCFCs from 2016, apart from the equivalent of around 45 tonnes of R22 a year.

The reduction in import quotas has seen a steep rise in the price of HCFC-R22 to around $395.00 per Kg (list price)

In 2017 the Australian Federal Government amended the Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Legislation to include the phase out of HFC refrigerants.

A statutory 85 per cent phase-down of HFC imports will commence from 1 January 2018. The phase-down will have a starting point of 8 Mt CO₂-e, based on Australia’s current demand and reduce to 1.6 Mt CO₂-e by 2037. The phase-down will be managed by import quota limits which will reduce every two years. 90% of quota will be allocated to existing importers and the remaining 10%will be allocated to applicants through a ballot system or by Ministerial discretion.

The reduction in import quotas has seen a steep rise in the price of HFC refrigerants similar to those seen with the phase out of HCFC-R22.

HFO refrigerants are been developed as a replacement for HFC refrigerants. Their operating characteristics are very similar to the HFC’s they’re intended to replace. The chemical process to manufacture HFO is extremely complex raising questions about the eventual cost per Kg. There are also concerns relating to their environmental impact, as when HFO’s breakdown in the atmosphere they produce Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), which is extremely harmful to aquatic life.

Additionally, HFO’s, depending on their GWP, can be flammable and/or toxic.

When installed correctly and with the right safeguards, ammonia is a very efficient refrigerant, especially in large industrial applications. Due to its toxicity, however, ammonia has been at the center of a number of incidents that have led to loss of life, and as a result, there are grave health and safety concerns surrounding its ongoing use in the modern workplace. Additionally, ammonia systems generally require large capital investment due to the nature of the infrastructure involved. .

Although CO2 operates with high pressures, it is an excellent refrigerant in terms of efficiency and environmental impact. CO2 system technology has been widely adopted in Europe, Australia and gaining in popularity in the USA. Adapting CO2 systems in warm climates can be a challenge but huge in roads have been made in the development of new technology that enables CO2 systems to operate efficiently in warm climates.

In general natural refrigerants such as CO2 offer the best long term pathway. At Glaciem we believe CO2 is the future of refrigeration and we are considered industry leaders in its safe and efficient application.

The recent volatility in global and domestic energy markets is driving a fundamental rethink in how we access and use energy. Electrical battery solutions are now giving people the opportunity to store energy captured now, for use later. This makes sense if an electrical end use exists, but what if that end use was cooling? What kind of battery allows us to store energy now, to give us highly efficient ‘cold’ later?

Thermcold’s groundbreaking Phase Change Material and Dynamic Melt system allow users to shift the energy load from the high daytime electricity rates to the lower nighttime electricity rates. How? Simply by recharging the Thermcold unit when energy is at its cheapest, and then using this stored ‘cold’ instead of the grid during peak times. This can reduce refrigeration electricity costs by up to 50% by charging during non-peak hours to discharge during peak-cost hours. Thermcold units are approximately 36% of the installed cost electrical storage (Batteries) and it makes sense to use the lowest cost option.

Additionally, flexibility around when to run refrigeration means cooling can run at night, using less energy due to lower ambient temperatures.
Exciting hybrid energy systems are made possible through Thermcold technology. Its energy storage capability resolves the mismatch between generation hours and electricity use so that solar and wind power can form an even larger slice of the national generation grid. Making ice with the sun and the wind!

This same flexibility can help smooth out electricity use, reducing the need for expensive, peak-driven infrastructure, and for extra fossil-fuel generation of power during daylight hours. This reduced ‘peakiness’can in some cases lead to reduced maximum demand (kVA) electricity supply charges and reduce the risk of receiving penalties for exceeding allowable total (kVA) demand.

Thermcold’s thermal storage system can also form part of a robust blackout management system. When combined with minor electrical storage to manage control systems, pumps and lighting, a combination of a renewable energy source and Thermcold thermal storage technology can allow sites to manage during periods of grid outage, helping avoid food or other perishable losses.

Phase change materials (PCM) are substances that absorb and release thermal energy during the process of melting and freezing. When a PCM freezes, it releases a large amount of energy in the form of latent heat at a relatively constant temperature.

The most commonly used PCM is water/ice. Working closely with the University of South Australia, Glaciem is on the cutting edge of PCM research and development. Advances in the composition of these materials are allowing Glaciem’s Thermcold ice battery technology to deliver reliable cooling at temperatures far outside the typical thermodynamic limits of water/ice.

Thermal energy storage (TES) allows the transfer and storage of heat energy, by means of a thermal reservoir. The thermal energy stored can then be used later. A typical example used for cooling is to run a refrigeration plant overnight using cheaper off peak electricity, then during the day the refrigeration plant is cycled off and the energy used in the ice is used for cooling, thus avoiding using more expensive peak electricity. Glaciem’s thermal energy storage solution, Thermcold, makes use of special phase change materials to allow thermal storage at previously unheard of temperatures.

These special Phase Change Material (PCM)PCMs were devolved developed by UniSA and won winner of the Australian Museum 2015 ANSTO prize for Innovative use of Technology.

The technology has been fully commercialized by obtaining an Australian government CleanTech grant in 2013 and a 3200kW/h Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system has been operating successfully at an Onion and Potato storage facility in South Australia.

Research & Development

Glaciem Cooling Technologies head office is located at the University of South Australia Faculty of Engineering Mawson Lakes Campus and is part of the Low Carbon Living Cooperative Research Centre’s (CRC) program.

Working with awarded scientists such as Associate Professor Frank Bruno, Dr. Martin Belusko and Dr. Steven Tay from the University of South Australia who developed their whole life to energy efficient and sustainable solutions enables Glaciem to be ahead of its time and industry. Our leading edge expertise provides Glaciem with the credibility to deliver projects of any size and scale.

Glaciem Cooling Technologies in collaboration with UniSA has been awarded the following grants and is currently conducting the research projects below.

The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF)

Glaciem Cooling along with the University of South Australia has been awarded close to $1m from the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund to develop a commercialised renewable energy driven cooling technology integrated with energy storage for the refrigeration of raw milk.

Glaciem is currently conducting cutting edge research in the application of CO2 systems capable of achieving high energy efficiency in 45C ambient temperatures and has received a South Australia Government grant for this research under the department of State development INNOVATION VOUCHER PROGRAM

Laboratory & Test Centre

Glaciem partners with Barbara Hardy Institute of University of SA where state of the art premises are used to deliver cutting edge in new technologies. With only a handful of similar facilities existing globally, we can test products in scale and in any environment in cold or hot chambers.

Awards

ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology 2015

Associate Professor Frank Bruno and his team Dr. Martin Belusko and Dr. Steven Tay, have combined a number of innovations to provide an inexpensive alternative for storing electricity to be used for cooling. These innovations include concepts such as dynamic melting, ’coil-in-tank’ and a low-cost storage medium, all of which can be integrated with renewable energy sources.